Explore the significance of Jesus's question to Bartimaeus and learn how to boldly ask for your deepest needs in prayer and relationship with God.
Today's Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
Jesus knows everything. Everything. Jesus is God, so He knew Bartimaeus’s name before he was born. He knew the hearts of those in the crowd who told Bartimaeus to be quiet. He knew that Bartimaeus was blind. He already knew.
Then why, over and over again in the Gospels, does Jesus ask what people want from Him? In today’s Gospel, He already knows Bartimaeus’s problem. He didn’t need Bartimaeus to be in close proximity to heal him, nor did He need the obvious stated. But He does these things anyway.
Wouldn’t it have been a bigger miracle to heal without being told the problem? To call people by name before they were introduced? Maybe, but the point of Jesus’s miracles isn’t the show. It’s the relationship.
Time and again, Jesus invites people into relationship with him. He learns their name, He asks what they most desire, He encourages them to boldly ask for the impossible.
If we know this about Jesus, then why don’t we also ask for the things we deeply need with the boldness of Bartimaeus? The answer could go a few ways. Maybe we don’t recognize what we deeply need. Maybe we are afraid of what needs to be changed in our lives. Maybe we are afraid what we ask for will be answered in a way or with timing we don’t foresee or desire.
And yet, even in the midst of our maybes, Jesus continues to ask us the same question He asked Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus already knows the questions we have but will give us the space and opportunity to ask them ourselves. How good is our God in the way He respects our free will and waits patiently for us to ask Him to meet our needs!
Ponder:
What do I really want Jesus to do in my life today?
Pray:
Dear Jesus, thank You for waiting for me to seek You out with my needs. Please help me to see clearly where I need Your help and give me the courage to trust You with all my needs.
Pray Together:
As a family, think about one need you have and commit to asking Jesus to resolve it in His good timing.
Copyright 2026 Kate Taliaferro
About the Author
.png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)"){kind=logo}
Comments